Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

maybe a small shoal of topwater fish, danio???
maybe a peacock eel, i dont mind striving to make sure my bottem babies get fed.
already have 2 faithful snails pushing the grind back and forth across the tank .. again help! hate! anything is all good

running as of right now, a EMP 400 and a AC 110( in previous threads i said 70 but i forgot that was on old tank)
also for bday thinking of asking for a fluval fx5 and dropping the emp

That isn't a bad start to be honest.
Better than some posts I've seen throwing in 90 fish into a 60gallon

But if you are set on the reedfish/ropefish. then I wouldn't suggest the cory's.
to my knowledge they are a predatory eel and I feel they would find a nice little curious cory cat's as a tasty snack-but I could be wrong on this.

Also, I would get a bit more mature pleco pleco to avoid the aforementioned issue as well.

The gourami's will be interesting. you'd have to have a good amount of decor for them keep to themselves. with my experience on the DG's..I'd only do one. the fella I had sure was a bully.

if you are wanting 2x schooling fish and the tank your size, you can do 10-15 each pending on which tetra you get.
My recommendation for that is go to your local lfs and see what they have in stock, write down what you like and come back here to see the compatibility with what else you are set on.

also-the schooling fish you desire, need to be in at least 10 to be comfortable in the tank...once they relax and have good water parameters, they don't school. schooling is a defensive behavior when they feel threatened. just dont want you to set expectations that all 10 tetra's will stay in a group swimming around together in the tank.

Just my opinion but there are a few tetras that will stay in a tight school even when they are not threatened. One is the Bloodfin which is one of the hardiest tetras you can purchuse, they can take harder water and lower temps better than most of thier cousins. The other is a more sensative but an awesome schooler, the Rummy Nose Tetra. If you like a bigger fish the Buenas Aires tetra is great schooler but may nip your Angel and DG fins.

Whatever Tetras you get always buy a big school as you have read. At least a DZ. to start.

Just so you know the rope fish are actually sweethearts. They aren't technically an eel at all. They do eat meat, especially shrimp or worms, so they will eat anything small enough to swallow, and they don't have the greatest eyesight so they can't tell if something is food or not until it's already in their mouths. But IME they don't actively hunt swimming fish unless the fish are TINY. They are prob more prone to swim away from most fish in fear. Also they are a very social species. If you get just 1 expect to never ever see it. They will just hide in their caves and starve. We have 4 of them and it took that many to get them to actually swim around. If you do go for it tho they are the nicest little things. You can hand feed them and they will come up and wrap around your fingers and nuzzle your palm with their nose. The first one we got was the last one at the LFS and they thought they sold him cuz he was living in a filter for two months or so. When they found him they called us and we came and picked him up. Bear in mind we don't have ours with anything small tho. They are in with a Senegal bichir and an ice blue monster of an Mbuna. Just what I think from seeing how ours act.

Last edited by Nephalem; 10-10-2012 at 07:18 AM.

"A grain of sand is all I ever wanted to be. Lay me down and let the water wash over me, wash over me." -Mickey Newbury
~-~-~ }~)){'> <}MocE{> }~)){'> ~-~-~
Prove that size doesn't matter www.bigfishcampaign.org
Painted fish belong on canvas, not in aquaria www.deathbydyeing.org

I don't know a lot about Reedfish but they look cool and I wish we could get them here!

I would stick to either the Angel OR 1 Dwarf Gourami. Two is never a good idea and many people here don't recommend mixing Gourami and Angels. I wouldn't do it myself.

I wouldn't risk something as small as Rummy-nose tetras with a Reedfish. Diamond Tetras are very cool and big enough to be safe (I think). I would love some of these but they are about $15 apiece here! Colombian Tetras would also work and look nice in a big school. :) You could easily do 12 or more Diamonds or Colombians in that tank. Congos would work too although when I had congos I found them very nippy.

thanks guys, yea i did my research about reedfish, i may get 2, just in planning stages, and my LFS, has about 5 breeds of tetras, so i am sure i can find the type. i am gonna to risk the DG at fist, but if they mess with Angel they are out. what about peapck eel, i read that they are the smallest, i beleive ....I have been researching alot of eels and may have got confused i do know the fire eels get about 2 feet long and get bulky, so they are out of question

No they will not and I would not count on any tight schooling once either are relaxed into your tank. ONLY stressed/nervous fish school tightly so if you see that on a regular basis know that your fish are not comfortable.

Serpais can be nippy also when kept in smaller groups like you are considering, Just something to be aware of.

Gas mileage isn't everythingOIIIIIIIOLack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.Why pretend there are no stupid questions? Actually, There are many stupid questions: "Should I drink this bleach?" Is just one example.
Having said that, Just because it's a stupid question doesn't mean that it shouldn't be asked. It's better to know.A warm beer is better than a cold beer. Because nothing is better than a cold beer, and a warm beer is better than nothing.